February 8, 2012

We drove almost two hours south today to the Everglades. For sure there was less traffic than what we see on Route 4 in just one rush hour. Very nice roadway for a large part of our drive---straight and with limited access. This is part of "Alligator Alley" which goes from Naples on the west coast to Weston on the east coast of Florida.

We visited the section at Shark Valley because tram tours are offered. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and a great storyteller. We learned a lot about the Glades—such as it is not a swamp, but a river, the ground underneath is limestone and below that is one of the largest aquifers in the United States.

We saw several varieties of birds and more alligators that I had imagined.

People were biking along the same roadway that the tram used. I would not have been comfortable being so personally up and close with the alligators. Cordell had no such qualms.

On our way back to Ft. Myers, we drove along a highway #41 which has a waterway that parallels the road and I was absolutely amazed at the number of gators I saw---many more than what I had seen on our Glades tram tour.